Valtionavustukset kulttuuripolitiikan ohjausvälineinä – huomioita opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriölle tehdystä pika-analyysistä

The text draws upon an assignment carried out by the Foundation for Cultural Policy Research (Cupore) for the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The task was to map out the system of discretionary grants in cultural policy to point out weaknesses in strategic goal setting and attainment. The commission was motivated by the pressure to demonstrate effectiveness within the framework of the state management and steering system. The mapping was focused on grants that the Ministry allocates under the rubric ‘arts and culture’. This concerns some 50 different grant forms, amounting to EUR 55 million in 2013. The Cupore research team looked into details in the grant allocation practices, e.g., formulations of grant targets in the calls for application and wordings on the application forms. We also made an e-mail questionnaire on the presenting officers. It was concluded that discretionary grants in culture make up rather an incoherent and heterogeneous system. Some grant forms derive from the 19th century, prior to any cultural policy proper, while others are the product of recent targeted programmes. The strategy for cultural policy launched by the Ministry in 2009 was reflected only in places in the grant system. It was moreover noted that the goals of cultural policy were not entirely clear to provide basis for assessment of effectiveness. The policy sector emerged in many respects as a silo resisting alignment with renewed state management and steering methods. Several suggestions were made to the Ministry to control effectiveness, e.g., improved communication of grant policy goals, target guidance schemes with major grant recipients and co-ordination of grants as part of the cultural policy tools system.